Lot 86 | Auction XVII

LOT 86

KELVIN CHAP
(B. Indonesia, 1975)

Red Zone, 2003

Signed and dated Kelvin Chap 2003” on lower right
Mixed media on canvas
131 x 131 cm

Provenance
Private Collection, Kuala Lumpur

RM 6,000 – RM 8,000

Kelvin Chap grew up in Sabah, despite having been born in Indonesia. There, he developed an intense fascination for the Borneo tribal culture and symbolisms, which are always present in all his artworks. The masks, totem poles and everything iconic from Borneo is present in this artwork, clashing with fluorescent colours to represent modernity.

The artist explained that the idea behind this piece is simply a social commentary; the overlapping of tradition and culture with modernization, of how they clash, and the portrayal of a society that is too eager to accept urbanization, so much so that the lines are blurred and almost obscure the original culture identity.

Kelvin Chap Kok Leong graduated from the Malaysian Institute of Fine Art in 1994, after majoring in print-making. He has won many art competitions such as the Pilihan Negeri Sabah 1993, 1994, 1995 and the Philip Morris Art Award Honourable mention in 1995.